Term Practitioners at Jikoji
PLEASE NOTE: If you have sent in a Term Practitioner application and have not received an acknowledgement, we apologize, and ask that you please send it again. An intermittent glitch, only recently discovered, appears to prevent some applications from making it through for reasons still unknown.
Please also make a copy of your application before sending it. If you wish, you may copy the text of the application into an email, fill it out there, and send it to info@jikoji.org with the subject line "Term Practitioner Application.’
We so apologize for this inconvenience!
application Form
We are now accepting applications for new Term Practitioners. Term Practitioners live on site, participate in our daily practice schedule, work with one of our Guiding Teachers and Jikoji Staff, and help with temple maintenance and upkeep.
The path to being a Term Practitioner typically begins with visits to Jikoji, being part of the sangha, engagement in Jikoji’s practice, and familiarity with the current on-site Sangha, comprised of Teachers, Staff members, and other Term Practitioners. During the pandemic, this participation will be mostly through Zoom participation, as most of out programs are now being offered online. Persons wishing to be formally considered for a term of practice must submit an application form.
Term Practitioners are expected to engage fully and whole-heartedly in the practice life at Jikoji. This includes daily meditation, participation in and support of the Sunday program, participation in sesshins (week-long meditation intensives) held in October, December, February and April, and other practice events as they occur throughout the year.
Term Practitioners are also expected to support the day-to-day upkeep of the temple buildings and grounds through work such as cleaning, gardening, housekeeping, and other maintenance tasks, and to graciously greet and host other contemplative persons and groups who visit Jikoji.
Term Practitioners begin with a one-month provisional period, are reviewed quarterly, and should expect to be at Jikoji for no longer than one year. Term Practitioners share kitchen and bathroom facilities with other members of the on-site Sangha and are provided with their own room. Term Practitioners are responsible for the payment of a long term retreat fee.
No pets, large household items or outside projects or work incompatible with Jikoji can be accommodated. Partners or family members must apply separately.
Jikoji is located in the hilly Santa Cruz mountains and within a nature preserve. An appreciation of nature and acceptance of the challenges of country living is to be understood. It is strongly advised that Term Practitioners have their own car. Being a smaller country center, Jikoji has less formal structure, so there is time for individual interests or part-time work, and, because it is based on a retreat model rather than a monastic one, it has a more liberal sangha environment that demands mature self-direction.